A letter written by primary school student Flint, from Austin in Texas, has been hailed as the best thank you note of all time after he told a local weatherman who visited his school that he was 'more awesome' than a monkey, in a bacon tuxedo, riding a unicorn, on a space shuttle, heading for Mars.

Rumoured Glastonbury 2010 headliner Snoop Dogg and Courtney Love's band Hole were among the acts to perform at gossip guru Perez Hilton's One Night in Austin show at the SXSW festival in Texas at the weekend.

Liverpool Architecture Society has announced the winners of its first design awards. Ten gongs were handed out, including two to Bluecoat architects Biq Architecten, Austin-Smith:Lord and Donald Insall for best sport, leisure and cultural project and best overall building of the past five years. Other winning buildings include Toxteth TV, the Liverpool Biennial Offices and Alma De Cuba. Liverpool-based firm Shed KM picked up three awards, including the lifetime contribution award for its director, David King.

As guitarist for nihilist noiseniks The Icarus Line, Aaron North used to try to be as offensive as possible, and not just sonically. In 2002, he managed to pique almost the entire state of Texas after 'liberating' a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan at a gig in Austin.

A Texan singer-songwriter on the fringes of the Austin scene when his life changed dramatically, Sam Baker's story beats all. In 1986, aged 32, he was travelling in Peru when a terrorist bomb blew up his train. His injuries appeared to be career-wrecking: tinnitus ringing in his head; a mangled left hand to obstruct guitar playing; brain damage that affected his memory.

As guitarist for nihilist noiseniks The Icarus Line, Aaron North used to try to be as offensive as possible, and not just sonically: in 2002, he managed to pique almost the entire state of Texas after 'liberating' a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan at a gig in Austin.

As guitarist for nihilist noiseniks The Icarus Line, Aaron North used to try to be as offensive as possible, and not just sonically: in 2002 he managed to pique almost the entire state of Texas after 'liberating' a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan at a gig in Austin.

As guitarist for nihilist noiseniks The Icarus Line, Aaron North used to try to be as offensive as possible, and not just sonically: in 2002 he managed to pique almost the entire state of Texas after 'liberating' a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan at a gig in Austin.

As guitarist for nihilist noiseniks The Icarus Line, Aaron North used to make it his business to be as offensive as possible, and not just sonically. In 2002 he managed to pique near enough the entire state of Texas after 'liberating' a guitar that once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan at a gig in Austin. The chaos continued when he defected to Nine Inch Nails, with his penchant for jumping into the crowd and using his guitar to batter everything in sight leading to more than one accusation of assault.

Snail: much slower than the speed of light For those wanting to take a step back from the superfast modern world, here’s an altogether more sedate alternative â snail delivery. As part of a ‘slow art’ project, a group of researchers from Bournemouth University have developed a way of sending messages literally at the speed […]

Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong dating Kate Hudson and Lance Armstrong have been secretly seeing each other for the past few weeks, reports say. The couple have been seen in Armstrong’s home city, Austin, Texas, having a romantic date on Friday night at Eddie V’s restaurant, Perezhilton says. The day after their secret rendezvous, the […]

Andrew Wakefield A doctor insisted today it was his duty as a human being to help a mother seeking answers as to why her child had autism. Dr Andrew Wakefield, who sparked national controversy over the MMR vaccine, said he had “absolutely not” been in breach of his position in helping a mother who asked […]

Ange admits to low self-esteem With looks like these, surely anyone would find it difficult to find fault with Angelina Jolie. The Oscar-winning actress, who oozes confidence, appears to have it all â a successful career, a beautiful family and Brad Pitt by her side. However, in next week’s issue of OK! magazine, she admits: […]

Kate Nash apparently had a pop at the music industry Kate Nash has apparently his out at the music industry in a foul-mouth rant. The Foundations singer claimed the music industry was full of “w******” and that she deserved to beat Leona Lewis to the Best Female Brit Award last month, according to The Sun. […]

Singer Dolly Parton is heading to SXSW this year This year’s highly anticipated South By Southwest (SXSW) festival is under way in Austin, Texas. SXSW – which includes film screenings and music performances – boasts a stellar list of events this year, including a performance by rock favourites REM, who will be showcasing their 14th […]

Nadine McBay – Free ride: should we be paying for Sons And Daughters to go to Texas? The bags are being packed and the locks are being snapped on the guitar cases; at the end of the week, Scottish rising stars Frightened Rabbit , The Dykeenies , The Law , Stornoway’s Our Lunar Activites , […]

Hillary Clinton has accused rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism during a televised debate. She ridiculed her Democratic presidential rival as the candidate of “change you can Xerox.” But Mr Obama brushed off the accusation saying it was just part of “silly season” politics. He drew applause when he countered, “What we shouldn’t be spending […]